Texas Supreme Court

The Texas Supreme Court held that a plasma collection center is a "public facility" under Texas Human Resources Code §121.002(5) and that such a facility may lawfully reject a donor with a disability when the rejection does not constitute discrimination under §121.003(a) or falls within an exception, including a…

Chief Justice Hecht dissents from the Texas Supreme Court’s majority decision that the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center’s immunity under the Texas Tort Claims Act is waived because the use of D5W sugar water was a negligent use of tangible personal property.

The Texas Supreme Court held that section 51.014(b) of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code imposes a mandatory stay of all trial‑court proceedings during certain interlocutory appeals and that a court of appeals may not lift that stay, even for a limited purpose.

The Texas Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals, holding that the newspaper was not entitled to summary judgment because factual issues remain on the substantial truth of its statements and the editorial is not protected opinion.

The Texas Supreme Court held that the parties' pre‑trial stipulation limiting the jury to three issues waived Pathfinder's burden to prove it was ready, willing, and able to perform, making specific performance proper once the contract was found enforceable and breached.

The Texas Supreme Court, per curiam, held that due process and due course of law entitle a parent to appellate review of Family Code section 161.001(b)(1)(D) and (E) findings whenever the parent presents the issue on appeal, even if another ground alone would sustain termination, because unreviewed D/E findings become…

The Texas Supreme Court held that the Court of Appeals erred by failing to address the father's due‑process challenges under Texas Family Code §§161.001(b)(1)(D) and 161.001(d) when it affirmed termination of parental rights solely on §161.001(b)(1)(O).

The Texas Supreme Court held that the State of Texas cannot obtain monetary damages from the Chambers‑Liberty Counties Navigation District because governmental immunity was not waived, affirmed that the District itself is immune from an ultra vires claim, allowed the ultra vires claim against the Commissioners to…

The Texas Supreme Court held that a commercial tenant may terminate a commercial lease based on the landlord's prior material breach, concluding that Davidow's implied warranty of suitability does not forbid termination on that ground, and that Rohrmoos preserved that issue even though it failed to preserve any…

The Texas Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals' judgment, holding that Texas Outfitters, LLC breached its fiduciary duty of utmost good faith and fair dealing by refusing to execute an oil and gas lease that the Carters wanted, and that the trial court's finding of breach was supported by legally sufficient…

The Texas Supreme Court held that Lufkin Industries could not recover on its fraudulent‑inducement or string‑along‑fraud claims because the Statement of Work contained clear, unequivocal disclaimer clauses that barred reliance on IBM's misrepresentations.

The Texas Supreme Court held that a denial of a permissive interlocutory appeal by an intermediate appellate court does not bar the Court’s jurisdiction to review the merits of the underlying interlocutory order, and it affirmed that the Airline Deregulation Act does not preempt Lufthansa’s tortious interference claim…

The Texas Supreme Court held that the trial court was correct in finding that EMTS provided clear and specific evidence of a prima facie breach of contract claim, satisfying the second step of the Texas Citizens Participation Act.

The Texas Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals, holding that the trial court erred in excluding evidence of the victim's mental health and substance use, and that the jury's finding of JBS's direct negligence was unsupported by the record.

The Texas Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals, holding that an arbitration agreement that delegates arbitrability to an arbitrator is enforceable even when the dispute concerns the validity of court orders approving a structured‑settlement transfer, and remanded with instructions to compel arbitration.

The Texas Supreme Court held that the plaintiff's expert reports sufficiently addressed both causation and the applicable standard of care under the Texas Medical Liability Act, and therefore the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the defendant's motion to dismiss.

The Texas Supreme Court affirmed a termination decree supported by a mother's stipulations in a mediated settlement agreement (MSA), holding that her voluntary, unrecanted, and uncontroverted admission that termination was in her children's best interests—together with stipulations to statutory grounds and agreed…

The Texas Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals' judgment, holding that the removal petition is a legal action subject to the Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA), that only the state’s official‑misconduct allegation is an "enforcement action" exempt from the TCPA, and that sovereign immunity does not bar…

The Texas Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and remanded for the trial court to reconsider the division of the community estate, holding that awarding the abusive spouse any interest in the marital home is not "just and right" as a matter of law.

The Texas Supreme Court held that the jury's fraud findings were sufficient to support benefit-of-the-bargain damages without a separate contract finding, and that there was legally sufficient evidence for past reputation and mental-anguish damages but not for future damages or lost-income damages, remanding for…

The Texas Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals' judgment, holding that the evidence of causation was legally sufficient, the medical‑billing affidavits complied with Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.

The Texas Supreme Court held that JDC/Firethorne lacks standing to seek an injunction against County Commissioner Andy Meyers because the commissioner has no authority to receive, process, or present a completed plat application, making the requested relief incapable of redressing the alleged injury.

The Texas Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's denial of the City of Houston's plea to jurisdiction, held that the Pension System has standing and that the corporations' employees are members of the pension plan, affirmed the validity of the Pension System's ultra vires and Texas Public Information Act claims, and…

The Texas Supreme Court held that the grandparents were not liable under Family Code Chapter 42, were not negligent or fiduciaries, and could not be held liable for defamation because the claims were not properly pleaded or causally linked; it affirmed the appellate court’s dismissal of the defamation claims and…

The Texas Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals, holding that Texas courts lack both specific and general personal jurisdiction over Robin Goldsmith because her contacts with Texas were not purposeful, continuous, or systematic enough to satisfy the minimum‑contacts analysis for Old Republic's…

The Texas Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals, holding that the unambiguous restrictive covenants in Timberwood Park do not forbid short‑term vacation rentals. Because the covenants are silent on lease duration and the single‑family restriction pertains only to the structure, the homeowner’s rentals satisfy…

The Texas Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated the trial court’s summary judgment for Steve Blow and The Dallas Morning News, holding that the column’s alleged defamatory implication that the Tatums acted deceptively is an opinion and is true, thus not actionable.

The Texas Supreme Court held that the trial court, not the arbitrator, must decide whether a claim against a non‑signatory is arbitrable, applying a de novo standard of review, and found that the insurance policy’s arbitration clause did not bind the Altman Group to arbitration; the Court reversed the Court of…

The Texas Supreme Court held that Lori Annab failed to establish a waiver of Harris County's governmental immunity because her allegations did not show the county's use of tangible personal property caused her injuries, and the court found the appellate court's remand improper, rendering judgment for the county.

The Texas Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals' order granting expunction of the assault‑related records for T.S.N. because article 55.01(a)(1)(A) is interpreted as offense‑based, allowing partial expunction when an arrest involves multiple unrelated offenses.

The Texas Supreme Court held that the "less, save and except" clause in the chain of deeds functions as an exception, not a reservation, giving each party a one‑quarter royalty interest in both the 178‑acre and 28‑acre tracts; it rejected the application of judicial estoppel to Gary and Nancy; and it affirmed that…

The Texas Supreme Court held that the Texas Citizens Participation Act’s commercial‑speech exemption does not apply to Castleman's online statements about O'Connor because the statements were not made in the defendant’s capacity as a seller and were not directed to the defendant’s own customers.

The Texas Supreme Court held that the Texas Tort Claims Act’s $100,000 damages cap applies cumulatively to a transportation authority and its independent contractors performing essential governmental functions, that section 452.056(d) brings an employee of such a contractor under the election‑of‑remedies provision…

The Texas Supreme Court held that the Willacy County Appraisal District acted within its statutory authority to correct ownership on the appraisal roll under §25.25(b) because the correction did not increase tax liability, that a §1.111(e) agreement may be voided if fraud is proven, and that Sebastian Cotton & Grain…

The Texas Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's use of the sham affidavit rule to strike the plaintiff's affidavit and grant partial summary judgment, holding that the rule is a valid component of Rule 166a and that the trial court did not abuse its discretion.

The Texas Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's denial of the relator's request for discovery of the hospital's charge records, holding that the request was not proportional and amounted to a fishing expedition.

The Texas Supreme Court held that the Texas Citizens Participation Act applies to the fraud claims against attorney Bill Youngkin for his in‑court statements and that Youngkin is entitled to dismissal based on the attorney‑immunity defense, reversing the Court of Appeals.

The Texas Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals, holding that John Adams's alleged defamatory blog post and e‑mail relate to a matter of public concern under the Texas Citizens Participation Act, so the motion to dismiss should have been denied and the case remanded for further proceedings.

The Texas Supreme Court affirmed the appellate court's determination that the trial court's original order, which contained a clear finality phrase, was a final judgment under Lehmann, rendering the later amended order void as an improper correction of judicial error and denying the relator's mandamus petition.

The Texas Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and held that Amerimex is not entitled to summary judgment on the plaintiffs' vicarious‑liability claim because genuine issues of material fact exist as to both the employer‑employee relationship and whether the driller was acting within the course and scope of his…